Lifting of the Veil
by SignedSealedWritten
Summary: At the very moment when the world begins to fall apart, it's sticking together that counts. Even when you're shattered. Even when sticking together could cost you everything.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue  
_December_ 21st, 2011  
9:00 PM

"In the beginning is my end."  
- T.S. Elliot

The salt of her tears stung the gash on her cheek. She should have put a bandage on it, or covered it somehow, but infection was the last thing on her mind. Her lungs felt as if someone was squeezing them in a cold, iron grip, and each breath was a new struggle she had to endure. The prolonged lack of oxygen made her head spin and black dots dance on the edge of her vision. Her fingers twitched. None of these things concerned her at the moment – she could deal with watching the walls of their apartment shimmer and melt in the corners of her eyes. This was something that she could handle, even if she couldn't.

It would get worse.

She would handle that later.

Will's hand shook violently. His face was pale and his mouth drawn in a tight line, the pain evident all over his expression. Her fiancé lifted a hand to wipe away the tears ghosting her cut. She didn't flinch, even though she knew he expected her to. How could she possibly flinch?

"I'm so sorry, Jen." The words were choked. "I'm so, so sorry."

She knew. It didn't matter that he'd caused it. He hadn't known better.

Sometimes, she hadn't, either.

"It's okay," She said, and that was a lie. He lowered his head into her lap. Blood stained the legs of her pants. She ignored it. She ran her fingers through his hair as she might with a child. "We're going to be okay."

She knew how to handle this.

She told him to relax. She told him that it was going to be okay. She repeated herself because she didn't know what else to say when everything had already been said, and anything else that had to be said was too large or too thorny or just too important.

"You've got to take care of him, Jen." He spoke, but his words were constrained. That he could speak at all was a miracle, though they had been short on those these past few days. "Don't let him out. Don't let him see."

She knew she was crying when the cut on her cheek burned. "I won't." She soothed, trying not to think of the wishes. _I wish we were married, I wish it was a year ago, I wish I hadn't taken that job_. "I promise. You're going to be okay." She said it again because maybe she believed it.

Because maybe, this was better. And that was something she could admit even in the frightening reality of staying here.

There were things that were too important to say, but there were things too important not to be said. "I'm sorry," She told him. "I'm sorry I couldn't …" Her words caught in her throat and she choked on them.

"No, that's not what I want to hear." He said, and she found herself surprised that after all she'd done to him, his voice could still be so kind. "Tell me something worth something, Jennifer." In that moment, his words were so clear. As though they weren't struggled at all.

She was still crying when she spoke. She knew what she was going to say before she even began to say it. "The day that we met, I didn't mean to fall in love. But we never know what's going to happen to us, do we?"

She continued on about meeting him for the second time, and the third. She talked about their son.

She kept talking.

Even when he'd stopped breathing.

_Author's Note: _

_You'll notice that this chapter is vague. It's intended. While it won't all be explained in the next chapter, much of it will be, and all of it will be explained eventually. This chapter is short as well, but the rest will be longer. _

_Thank you to kdzl, for listening to me babble, not running away when I started with 'I've got this weird idea', and for being excited about it. Also to Nor, who said a few words and spawned this plot's twist. _

_Reviews? You'll heal JJ's pain. Click it for her. And if not for her, for me! _


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One  
December 21st, 2011  
8:30 AM

"This is the way the world ends not with a bang but with a whimper."  
T.S. Elliot

Seven accidents before nine in the morning did not render Aaron Hotchner a patient man. He entered the Behavioral Analysis Unit a half hour late on the final day before holidays. That was, of course, to say the last paper day. No matter how much any of the agents wanted to believe they wouldn't catch a case before New Year's Day, the truth was that UnSubs never worked to the BAU's schedule. His team was immune from arbitrary paper days until after holiday breaks, but they were never immune from paperwork.

The accidents hadn't put the normally patient man in a good mood. The roads had been icy, but there was no doubt in his mind that pre-holiday madness had been the cause of at least half of the accidents. People were rushing to get gifts they'd forgotten, people were impatient, and people were generally on edge.

"What's got your holiday knickers in a twist?" The cheery inquiry had come from the technical analyst heading towards him from her office.

"You're here early." He raised a brow. Penelope Garcia was in her usual holiday cheer, from the Christmas sweater and cheery green skirt to the candy cane that she shoved into his hand.

"Spreading holiday cheer." She said, all but bouncing up and down.

He viewed her skeptically. "Garcia, you're not due in for another half hour."

"It's never too early for holiday cheer, G-man." She paused, and he saw her eyes take on a more serious tone, going darker, as though there were a cloud passing through them. "And before you ask, there aren't any cases."

He almost asked her about the change of attitude, but her holiday cheer was back as soon as it was gone, and the BAU's technical analyst had turned on her heels and returned to her holiday mission. He shook his head in bemusement, watching as she placed a candy cane on Morgan's desk before he turned around and headed towards his office.

He could only hope that there were no cases sitting on his desk, despite Garcia's assurance that there weren't. Cases sometimes superseded her and went straight to him, like they had in the days JJ had worked with them as well. In the year since she'd been transferred to the Department of Defense, the technical analyst had taken over a tremendous amount of her responsibilities.

That included showing up earlier, even though he'd never asked her for that. She'd been showing up earlier every morning, handling their cases – and he knew that it was taking a toll on her. It had never been what she'd signed up for. She'd never wanted to deal with the types of things she was dealing with now.

He'd offered her an out, more than once – but she'd never taken it. He hadn't expected her to, of course, but the offer still stood. From the first time he'd met Penelope Garcia, she'd been one of the most compassionate and determined women he'd had the pleasure of knowing. She wasn't going to let him do it himself, as she'd told him countless times over the past year. He entered his office with that thought in mind, hoping that today would be a day of ease.

He was wrong.

She knew that she couldn't say anything, and it was all but killing her. She shouldn't even know in the first place – but when your best friend comes to you with something as cryptic as that, you tended to do a little searching.

When you were Penelope Garcia, you tended to do a little _more_ searching than necessary. It wasn't like they wouldn't all know soon enough, but it felt so wrong to not be able to tell any of her team. She felt like a hypocrite. They were a family, she'd said it countless times herself – but she was holding back from them now.

It was for their sake, though. That's what she'd been told, and from what she'd found out – if she made a mistake and it cost them everything, she wouldn't forgive herself. There was nothing telling them could do except panic them, and she'd made a promise to a friend.

But that was when she'd known very little about any of it.

She couldn't tell them. She had to pretend like everything was normal.

At least for a little while more.

She'd almost told Hotch. The words had almost slipped out. She almost hadn't been able to stop them from slipping past her teeth.

The best thing for her to do – she pretended that she was certain on this – was to do what JJ had asked of her.

She continued with what everybody expected her to do. She planned the Christmas party and spread Christmas cheer, but all she could do was hope that she was doing the right thing.

She wasn't too sure anymore.

"Kid. Kid, you're giving me a headache."

Morgan had had the headache long before he'd walked into the bullpen at nine that morning. He'd had the headache when he'd woken up that morning and he'd still had the headache when he'd driven to work. The profiler blamed it on the late night at a D.C. bar, but he hadn't drunk anywhere near enough to cause a hangover. Sleep deprivation was the more likely culprit, and the date hadn't even been worth it. Not that she hadn't been nice - she was - but it wouldn't go far even if he wanted it to. It was a hazard of the job.

"I'm just saying. Our Christmas traditions aren't the only traditions out there. In the Ukraine, an artificial spider and web are part of the traditional decorations on a Christmas tree. To find a spider web on Christmas day is considered good luck. And did you-"

"You asked him about Christmas, didn't you?" Prentiss smirked at him from her desk. "Bad, bad move."

Morgan grit his teeth, lifting his forehead from his fist to glare at her. "I simply asked what he was doing."

"Like I said. Bad move."

Reid raised his brow. "I can't believe you guys don't find it _interesting_."

"Reid, all I'm interested in is getting out of here without a case. With any luck, I won't hear the word profiling until January 2nd."

Prentiss' laugh was crossed with a sigh. "You can say that again."

"Actually," Reid began, and Morgan sighed, "With any luck, we'll be back here next year."

"Excuse me?" Morgan questioned, fully aware that Prentiss was giving him the _'You did _not_ just question him_' look. His headache continued to pound away.

Reid looked all too happy to be given the opportunity, leaving Morgan questioning his sanity. Reid started talking with the excitement of a genius on a mission. "Some scholars believe that the Mayan calendar is a year off. Today's December 21st, 2011. If those scholars are right,"

Morgan couldn't help but interrupt. "You believe in the 2012 thing?"

Reid looked shocked. "You don't?" He waited barely a second before he continued. "If the Mayan calendar is really a year off, that means _this_ year would be the infamous 2012, and getting through today would mean – "

"That we have nothing to worry about." Prentiss finished for him. "Yeah, Reid? I'm pretty sure the apocalypse is nothing compared to what we see day to day."

"Maybe. But such a wide scale-"

He cut off with a well-timed glare from Morgan.

"You're going to tell me to shut up again."

"And he's a mind reader as well as a genius." He smirked and opened the file sitting on his desk but didn't truly look at it. It couldn't hold his attention, not today. The profiler's mind was on the next day's trip back to Chicago and the holidays he always spent with his family. He hadn't seen them since Desiree's birthday in September. He wanted nothing more than a stress and murder free holiday.

A noise from near Hotch's office had Morgan lifting his head and furrowing his brow. It sounded a lot like a door slamming. Hotch stood there, looking for lack of a better word as though he'd seen a ghost. Dread filled Morgan's stomach as soon as he saw him, before he even began to speak. There wasn't any other explanation for that look than a case – and a bad one.

But those weren't the words that left Hotch's mouth.

"Be ready by ten. We're being released early." Though his voice was loud, authoritative, there was desperation in it. "There's going to be an emergency press conference. Something's wrong."

* * *

_Author's Note: _

_This chapter explained less than I wanted it to, but the next chapter has much of the explanation of what has been happening. (Though I will admit that there are quite a few mysteries throughout the rest of this.) I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was with the first one, but we've got a few scenes I'm excited about coming up. I'm guessing there might be some confusion about the nature of the press conference. The BAU isn't the agency holding it. It's one they're going to have to watch. I promise it'll be explained. _

_All of this being said, you're all amazing! I got so many alerts and so many reviews. Thank you, very much. And a _giant_ thank you to kdzl, who is awesome beyond all human abilities. _

_Drop me a review? _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three  
December 21****st****, 2011  
11:00 AM **

"Fear of the unknown is a terrible fear."  
- Joan D. Vinge

She didn't know why they were standing there.

And she hated it.

Emily Prentiss was an analyst. By nature, she questioned things. She pulled things apart and studied their most basic elements. It made her a good profiler, but it was also second nature. She studied the elements until she understood them, until the ever present questions in her mind stopped revolving.

But she couldn't analyze if she had no information. Her heart pounded too fast and her mouth felt dry; she was trying to analyze with nothing to go on. She was trying to make sense of things – but she couldn't.

Nobody could.

They stood in the bullpen, facing the TV screen. There was the inexplicable feel of an entire group of people holding their breath at once. There were things they'd seen on that screen that she'd never forget. There were moments she knew the others wouldn't ever forget either. They'd learned of terrible things on that screen; they'd seen death and destruction and chaos moments before they were thrown headlong into it.

But there was something different when you _knew_ something was coming – but you didn't know what it was. When things happened on that screen, the BAU was often sent headfirst into it. This time, everything was reversed. They were being sent home after the press conference that was going to be shown on the TV.

But she didn't know what that meant. Nobody did.

It was driving her crazy.

Fear wasn't something foreign to her. It was impossible to be an FBI agent and not know exactly what fear _tasted_ like, what it felt like when it coursed through your veins. Often, she displaced it. She waited until the danger was gone until she was afraid, until she let herself feel it. It was useful that way. Emily Prentiss knew exactly how fear felt, but she'd never been so afraid while standing by her desk.

"This had better be somebody's idea of a sick Christmas joke." She ground the words out, easier than letting the questions move in her head like some kind of sick river.

"It's Christmas, not April Fools, Emily." Was she going insane, or was there just the smallest amount of snippiness in Garcia's voice?

"It's not a joke." Rossi said, quietly. It wasn't something that needed to be said. She knew too well that this wasn't a joke.

A long, low beep sounded from the TV screen. That was when Emily knew exactly how much trouble they were in. She knew what the next words would be already; she was already thinking of the effects the words were going to have on the public.

"This is the emergency broadcast system. This is not a test."

The voice was something out of nightmares. It was the thing no profiler or _human being_ wanted to hear. And it was the thing that would send the entire world into a panic. The consequences of this one would be far reaching.

The TV switched to the press conference's setting; a small print on the bottom of the screen said that it was a live feed.

"The Department of Defense is issuing a statement in coordination with the Center for Disease Control."

Emily knew what she was going to be on the screen even before she set her eyes on the woman. She'd know that voice anywhere. It still managed to be a shock when the slender blonde woman's face was shown on the TV, partially hidden by a podium. Emily hadn't seen the Jennifer Jareau face to face for the past two months, but they'd all made an effort to keep in touch.

She'd spoken to her last week. She hadn't said a thing.

"This statement is in effect starting now, for the entire country and outer-lying regions up to one hundred miles."

JJ's voice came out of the speakers and into the bullpen of the BAU. Emily's heart sped up, and in the pause between sentences she couldn't help but look at the others of her team. A profiler couldn't turn off their instincts to profile – and though there was always a pact to never profile the members of her team, it was nature for her to notice the drawn brows, the pale face, and people biting their lower lips.

"There's been a toxin released throughout the United States." JJ said on the screen, and Emily tried to stop from inhaling sharply. "There _will_ be a cure." As it always had when JJ had worked with them, her voice was calm and controlled and _warm_ no matter what the words she was saying.

"The government is already at work, and when this cure is prepared, everyone will receive it. In the meantime-" JJ coughed and adjusted the microphone. Emily's eyes darted to Hotch, and she saw the muscles in his jaw jump before JJ began to speak again. "In the meantime, it is extremely important for you to stay inside your houses. This toxin is airborne."

Emily was acutely aware of the air around her, surrounding her. Again she looked from face to face, wondering, hoping, praying that nobody in this room …

"You need to stay inside your houses." Blue eyes pierced through the screen, and Emily felt immediately as though JJ weren't talking to everyone – but just to them. To loved ones. And while she knew that wasn't the truth – that it was just something that her friend was good at – she couldn't help the feeling. "It is much safer for everyone to be inside than on the roads."

"Misses Jareau," A voice off-screen called, and JJ nodded. "How can we tell if family, friends, loved ones … ourselves … have already been affected?"

JJ's eyes darted to her side, to what Emily could only guess was a higher power giving her approval. When she turned back, she continued to speak. "The toxin can begin with a headache. The person affected will become distressed, and/or paranoid hallucinations." Again, JJ's eyes darted off-screen, but they were back in a second and she pushed a hand through her hair.

"What can we do?"

She paused again before speaking, but she didn't look to her side this time. "Try to keep… keep them calm until a cure is found and delivered."

Emily's eyes darted to Hotch again, his mouth was turned down in a way that was more than a frown. She turned back to the screen in time to see JJ lean on the podium.

"Misses Jareau, you said they could become paranoid."

"I did."

"What does that entail?"

Emily couldn't be sure, but she thought that she saw JJ shudder. As quickly as it had come, it was gone, and her former colleague was speaking again. "Keep those you think affected away from items that could be used as potential weapons. This is a precaution both for yourself and for them."

JJ's eyes darted off-screen again, and suddenly, Emily knew. The way she kept looking off-screen, the way she was gripping the podium, the shudder she thought she'd imagined … she felt sick to her stomach.

"Oh, my God, Jayje."

Hotch's hand touched her shoulder. It was brief, but enough for her to realize that he knew, as well.

There were tears running down Garcia's face, but the technical analyst was remaining otherwise silent.

"Just…" There was another pause, longer this time, and Emily felt her stomach turn. There was a certain helplessness to it that made her feel absolutely _stuck_. ".. try to keep …" Again her eyes darted to the side, her face paled, and the screen turned black.

But not before a terrorized scream was broadcast on national TV.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Emily murmured, but her feet were rooted to the spot and her eyes glued to the screen that was coming back to life with a new face. It was no longer JJ standing behind that podium, no longer her friend's calm, assuring voice projected out for the nation to hear.

Emily realized that she was trembling.

The young man on the screen opened his mouth without a word of what had happened to JJ.

"Keep yourselves safe, keep yourselves protected and indoors. If you think somebody is affected, make sure they can't harm themselves or others. Have –"

Another voice from the crowd jumped in. "Is this toxin fatal?"

The man who'd taken JJ's place only paused for a second before continuing. "It can be. Keep those affected calm, and the risk goes down tremendously. The hallucinations increase with anxiety."

"Is that what just happened to Misses Jareau?"

The replacement didn't pause with that one. "Are there any further questions?"

If there were, they weren't aired. The camera zoomed in to the man on screen and focused on his face as he said, "The Department of Defense and CDC will keep you updated on the toxin and cure. Stay inside your houses and.."

Emily wasn't listening to the recap. She'd turned towards Hotch, who was still standing in the same cross-armed position as he had when the announcement had started. Most of the members of the team were moving closer, coming in to form a circle. There was chatter among the members of the entire unit, but the six that made up her team were silent until she opened her mouth to speak.

"That's it, then. We're being sent home?"

Hotch nodded. "There's nothing we can do as agents. The CDC and DoD have control over this."

Morgan was livid. Emily couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him this angry. "That's bullshit, Hotch. You're telling me we can't do anything for her?"

An exhausted, drained expression had come over Hotch's face. "We go home. We do what she said."

"Hotch, we can't-"

The man in question cut off Reid with a sharp look. "There is _nothing_ we can do. If we risk going out there we're no help. She has people, Reid."

"I don't like this." Emily said, quietly.

"None of us do." Rossi added, meeting eyes with their team leader. "But Aaron's right. She has people."

"Go home." Hotch said. "Keep yourselves safe." He paused before he spoke again, meeting each of their eyes. "I want everyone back here. Understood?"

She understood.

_Author's Note:_

_Will KDZL get tired of hearing her name in thanks? Well, I don't care. She's awesome. _

_I know it's been awhile since I've updated – the holidays were a crazy time, and I had zero inspiration during them to write. I'm back now. Don't worry, I'm not planning on abandoning any of my stories. I do hope that you've been enjoying reading – all the reviews are fantastic! _

_I hope that all of you had a fantastic holiday … be kind and review? We'll call it a holiday gift. _


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